Knicks Over Celtics: Imagine That

ENLARGE

The Knicks are rising above the declining Celtics and their aging stars.
Reuters

By

Chris Herring

April 30, 2013 8:48 p.m. ET

They're still a few rounds shy of a championship, but on some level this season has already been a memorable one for the Knicks. This team, one that is often as colorful as it is historically old, has been constantly interesting, on and off the court. And Carmelo Anthony's had his share of glory moments en route to locking up his first scoring title.

But there is another rarity taking place that deserves more attention: For the first time in what seems like forever, the Knicks are on the cusp of knocking the rival Celtics out of the postseason.

BOS at NYK

Game 5 (NYK 3-1)

Wed 7 p.m., MSG

Going into Game 5 at Madison Square Garden Wednesday, when the Knicks could eliminate the Celtics for the first time since the spring of 1990, the Knicks had already proven themselves to be the more talented team.

Sure, they narrowly dropped Game 4 in Boston in overtime. But they nearly won despite Anthony posting an eyesore-worthy stat line (10-for-35 from the field) that suggested he was trying to do too much offensively. (Second-leading scorer J.R. Smith, who was suspended for that game, was blunt Tuesday in proclaiming the Knicks the better team, saying he would be golfing by now had he been allowed to suit up Sunday.)

Even Celtics coach Doc Rivers alluded to the talent disparity between the teams when asked whether Boston had enough offense to hang with the high-scoring Knicks. "As far as offensive firepower, we don't want to get into a gunfight with them," said Rivers, who's had to coach around injured All-Star Rajon Rondo's absence. "Let's try to be anti-NRA and take some of their guns away."

It is by no means shocking that the Knicks are outplaying Boston in this series. After all, they won the regular-season series over the Celtics, three games to one, and captured the Atlantic Division crown.

Still, the events of this season are somewhat significant to both franchises when viewed through a historical lens. And some of that stems from what appears to be a role reversal.

Before this season, Boston had won the Atlantic Division in six of the last eight years. Only five other franchises—the Bucks, Lakers, Pistons, Bulls and Spurs—have pieced together such spans in modern NBA history, according to Stats LLC.

But like many of those other teams—particularly the Lakers and Pistons of the early 1990s—this year's Celtics lost their grip on the division when their aging stars (Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce) could no longer lift their teammates to championship-level heights.

That New York would be the squad to take advantage of Boston's plight is also unusual, given how rare it is for the Knicks to be better than the Celtics.

Since their last championship in 1973—a year that was immediately followed by the Celtics winning it all in 1974—the Knicks have enjoyed just one sustained period of superiority over the Celtics: the 1990s.

Beyond that decade, the Knicks have strung together only five seasons since the 1976-77 ABA-NBA merger in which they finished with a better record than Boston.

For now, though, the Celtics are at a crossroads, mired in a Catch 22 with older yet wildly popular players, whose contracts make it nearly impossible for Boston to make vast improvements to the core of its roster.

John Nash, a former Nets, Sixers and Wizards general manager who competed against the Knicks and Celtics for 13 years, said Boston's dilemma reminded him of one he faced. "You're basically wondering: Will the fan base turn on you [if you trade them]?" said Nash, recalling his organization's decision to keep aging Sixers star Julius Erving in 1986 despite a worthwhile trade proposal. "I think we all knew [trading him to get younger] would make sense. But our owner wouldn't pull the trigger."

One thing is clear in Nash's eyes, though: The Boston-New York dynamic, long tilted in the Celtics' favor, has changed. "The Knicks have gotten a lot better," he said. "So [the rivalry] could look this way for several years to come."

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